Kathryn Ursula Tokarska’s Answers

Yes, very fair. In our jurisdiction, client signs Rights & Responsibilities form, which is filed with the petition, chances are you also signed this form. It lists 15 items that the attorney shall do in order to receive $3,300, which is within the US Bankruptcy's Court's parameters for "initial fees," Converting a Chapter 13 to a Chapter 7 is not one of those items and it is not improper to compensate your lawyer for the extra time & effort involved in adhering to the conversion procedures....

4 years must pass from the date of your original chapter 7 filing. You should be okay to file chapter 13.

Yes, you need approval and it can be difficult to get the Trustee to release the property early. The best course of action is to enter into a binding contract after the case closes, typically in San Diego the court is very prompt, discharge happens almost exactly on 90th date after filing & the Trustees are also pretty good in issuing their blessing so the case can officially close. Most real estate agents won't touch a property while it is part of a bankruptcy estate. You also can't get a...

9th Circuit (which covers CA and I assume this is where the case was filed) follows White v Nielson (9th Cir 2004) 383 F3d922, which holds that where the omission was unintentional a debt owed to a creditor not listed in a no asset chapter 7 bankrutpcy is still discharged.

$5,000 on its own is not a problem, but the result could be different depending on what else you own. Tax refunds, rights to sue someone, debt owed to you, and many other things are considered assets. In CA debtors can use one of the State provided exemptions: either CCP section 703.140 or CCP 704. California does not allow for usage of federal exemptions.

If you look at the first page of Schedule E there are a number of different types of debts that are considered unsecured but priority. This includes domestic support obligations, wages, salaries & commissions, etc. The most common type of unsecured but priority debt are taxes and certain other debts owed to governmental units. Each type of debt listed on schedule E provides for specific code sections to review discussing further those types of debts.

Any reference to future tax refunds would be in the plan or the Confirmation order which you should read carefully in case it makes reference to a Pre-Confirmation Modification form (that would have been filled out and signed at the 341 meeting). You can change witholdings, again unless Trustee specified you can't (that happened to one of my clients) but changing witholdings because you aren't living within Schedule J budget and incurring new income tax debt while in Chapter 13 threatens...

I'm guessing based on the equity that they will foreclose if you don't continue to pay as promised. Why would they take $75K when they can $300K after short sale?

Your personal obligation to pay on the mortgage was discharged in your bankruptcy. The creditor can foreclose but not seek deficiency against you.

Your lawyer isn't entitled to the refund, your creditors however could be depending on what other assets you have. A tax refund is an asset and it must be exempted in order for you to keep it. I'm not sure what you mean by "another government entity". If you owe income taxes to IRS for previous years and are expecting a refund for 2011 income taxes, the IRS can apply your refund to the taxes owed. You should ask your attorney to clarify the situation for you some more. Also, paying family...